Your Location:

Penguins released back to wild after oil spill in Argentina

Monday, 31 July, 2006

San Clemente del Tuyu, Argentina

IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare – www.ifaw.org), in cooperation with Fundación
Mundo Marino and Consejo Agrario Provincial (CAP) de Santa Cruz, today returned
dozens of rehabilitated penguins back to the wild. The penguins were nursed back
to health following an oil spill in Southern Argentina. The source of the oil
spill is still unknown.

In early May, several hundred oiled Magellanic penguins began washing ashore
in the Cabo Virgenes Nature Reserve in Argentina, about 1,700 miles (2,750
kilometers) southwest of Buenos Aires near the southernmost tip of Patagonia. A
team from IFAW worked closely with Consejo Agrario Provincial de Santa Cruz to
take in and clean 224 of the oiled penguins. Due to very cold weather and low
water temperatures, the birds had difficulty regaining their natural
waterproofing. In response, the government of Santa Cruz Province and the
Argentine Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Argentina) flew the penguins to warmer weather
in San Clemente del Tuyú, where Fundacion Mundo Marino’s permanent
rehabilitation facilities are located. There, teams from IFAW, Fundación Mundo
Marino and CAP helped the birds finish their recovery. Today a large group of
these Magellanic penguins were returned to the wild. Eventually all the
rehabilitated birds will be released.

"Our mission is to rescue animals affected by environmental emergencies
as soon as possible, so that we can rehabilitate and release them back to the
wild. To achieve that, IFAW has an international emergency relief team capable
to react worldwide", said Beatriz Bugeda, IFAW Director for Latin America.

“These penguins have been through a dangerous ordeal and it is satisfying
to see it come to a happy end,” said Valeria Ruoppolo of IFAW, who helped direct
the rehabilitation effort. “The excellent cooperation between IFAW, Fundación
Mundo Marino, Fundación Patagonia Natural and the government of Argentina are
what helped these beautiful penguins recover.”